Society has become increasingly aware of the existence of the dangers of pollution in all areas of life and great emphasis has been placed on the curbing of pollution. One targeted area of pollution has been the emissions from industrial and utility combustion plants. Federal and State Government agencies have established regulations governing the emission of sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide in exit gases from combustion systems. These regulations have included the establishment of maximum level requirements of the sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide content in the exit gases. For example, one such regulation (at the time of this writing) requires that exit gases contain 0.2 lbs. or less of sulfur dioxide per million British Thermal Units (BTUs) in the fuel. Prior to the present invention, these standards (level requirements) have prompted experts to seek the use of low sulfur content fuels or to install expensive scrubbers, or both.
In some areas, the state, and/or federal agencies responsible for the control of emission levels obtained legislation regulating the sulfur content of the fuels to be burned. This legislation has demanded the burning of the low sulfur content fuels and has imposed the regulation on both buyers and sellers of fuels. The low sulfur content fuels require special processing by suppliers. The significantly higher costs for the lower sulfur content fuels are reflected in the higher costs to all consumers. The continually increasing costs for low sulfur content fuels have been an inducement to utilities and others using those fuels to find methods for improving overall efficiencies which would reduce the total cost for generating power.
High sulfur content fuels are significantly less expensive than low sulfur content fuels; high sulfur content fuels are more readily and easily available; and high sulfur content fuels have significantly higher heating values than do low sulfur content fuels. In an attempt to allow the use of high sulfur content fuels, the regulatory agencies have established programs requiring the use of scrubbing systems designed to remove the objectionable sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide components in the exit gases. These scrubbers are required in installations burning fuels at 250 million BTUs per hour or higher, and where the exit gases contain more than 0.2 lbs of sulfur dioxide per million British Thermal Units in the fuel. The scrubbers have high maintenance costs and require special handling of the extracted products. The scrubber units are estimated to cost between 70-100 million dollars each depending upon the systems to which they are attached. The regulations governing the use of scrubbers apply to new installations. Existing installations must be operated at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated emission levels. This significant increase in the capital investment is passed on to the consumer in the form of higher power costs. The net effects of the overall emission control and regulation, apparently, have been significantly higher fuel costs, reduced heating values of the fuels required to be used, and higher costs for generating power.